


Little One

by PaxieAmor



Series: Bedtime Stories [1]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Bedtime Stories, F/M, Kidfic, WTF, seriously, wtf is wrong with me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-21
Updated: 2012-04-21
Packaged: 2017-11-04 01:16:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/388047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaxieAmor/pseuds/PaxieAmor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bedtime story, in which Toni Stark adopts a child</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little One

**Author's Note:**

  * For [See_Kay_Write](https://archiveofourown.org/users/See_Kay_Write/gifts).



> So, as most of you know, I adore [Gyzym](www.gyzym.tumblr.com)’s Bedtime Stories. Mostly the Shortcut stories, because they are made of ADORABLE. Anyway, Kay and I have been doing this RP and it doesn’t work in my head as a long form story, if that makes sense? It hits me like it should be like one of Gyzym’s bedtime stories and so… that’s what I’m doing. God willing, she never finds this and hates me for borrowing the idea…
> 
> These fics are kind of an AU of my "Lady Iron of SHIELD" series. Hope you enjoy them :D

So, Toni Stark and Steve Rogers have been dating for almost a year, and its working! This amazes EVERYONE, except for Steve who is all “Of course it’s working, all of you need to shush.” Toni is probably the most amazed of all, because her last relationship (with Pepper) barely lasted six months and she is a train wreck of emotional problems and is in constant worry that one of these days, Steve is going to _realize_ that and drop her like a ton of bricks.

Which is why everyone is _completely_ amazed when Toni shows up at the Avengers Mansion carrying a two-year-old.

This two-year-old? She is the most adorable two-year-old on earth, possibly in all of the nine realms. Her golden blond hair is pulled back into two pig tails and her eyes are the brightest blue anyone has ever seen. And she is _clinging_ to Toni like letting go would cause the complete and utter destruction of everything.

And Clint, being how he is, reacts to this by saying “Oh my _god_ , Stark, you fucking kidnapped a child!”

To which Toni automatically replies “Barton, she’s a _baby_ , don’t swear around her!” and doesn’t that just shut EVERYONE up.

Toni opened her mouth to explain why she had a two-year-old affixed to her, but Thor is crying out with _joy_ before she can. Seconds later, he has snatched away the child (who looks at Toni with an expression that clearly says “MOTHER OF GOD HELP ME”) and is holding her above his head, laughing as he does so.

Until the girl starts to cry and Toni snatches her back, shushing her lovingly (yes, _lovingly)_ as she glares daggers at Thor and tells him he’s got ten seconds to explain himself or he’s sleeping in Castiel’s dog house. For the next _month._

“She’s Asgardian!” the god exclaims cheerfully, which is another thing that stuns the entire team into silence. He goes on to explain that in the event that an Asgardian child is orphaned, he or she is sent by the All Father to someone who can care for them. “The child will know this person on sight and hold fast to them, as the little one is doing with you, Lady Iron! It is quite rare for the All Father to select a Midgardian; you are to be commended!”

Everyone looks to Toni like she should be mad and they wait for her to freak out because the Avengers all know that Odin never does anything without reason and to be given a task by him is a big freaking deal… but Toni shrugs her shoulders, tells Jarvis to get her the adoption papers and tells Coulson to come up with a cover story, and that’s the end of it. The girl starts to yawn and Toni leaves with her to find a bedroom so the kid can get some sleep.

That’s where Steve finds her a couple hours later; sitting in a chair next to a king size bed that makes the two-year-old look so much smaller than she already is in the room next door to Steve and Toni’s, knitting furiously on a blanket that is already big enough to cover the little girl five or twenty times.

(For more information on Toni knitting, read “[Down Time](363445)” by my BFF Kay.)

It takes Steve a moment of watching her to realize that Toni’s got on her “oh my fuck, what the god” face. The face that she wears when she’s so upset about something she can’t even curse properly (so named because she actually _said_ “oh my fuck, what the god” when first making it).

“Odin wants me to take care of a child,” she says, clearly aware that Steve had been watching her this whole time. He walks over to the chair and kneels down, wrapping his arms around her. “I can barely take care of myself… but the way she looks at me…”

“You’re not doing this alone,” Steve reminds her, kissing the side of her head. “You’ve got me and the team…” Toni groans a little at that.

“Oh god, this child is doomed.” She snuggles into Steve’s embrace, watching the little one sleep between every pillow Toni could find to ensure she didn’t roll off the bed. They’re both silent for a moment, just watching the girl sleep. “She doesn’t even have a name,” Toni says finally. “Every time I asked, she’d just cuddle closer to me… she was wandering the streets, almost walked in front of a car…” She took a deep breath, letting it out slow. “And now she’s mine. Out of the blue clear sky.”

“Out of the what?” Steve asks, because her words are tired and mumbled and he thinks she said something about a blue Claire and tells her that.

“No… but I like that.”

When the girl wakes up later, she crawls like a bat out of hell to Toni and clings to her, snuggling close. Toni wraps the recently finished blanket (which Toni has been working on for the better part of her knitting life and is probably big enough for the _Hulk_ ) around the both of them and she just holds her. Eventually, she starts talking.

“Hi Claire.” The little girl looks at her and smiles and right then and from then on her name is Claire. “My name is Toni…” Claire hasn’t said much until now; until Thor said that she was Asgardian, Toni was surprised that she was able to talk at all (Toni knows nothing about babies and when they’re supposed to start talking and whatever), but Claire has said hi to her more than once and Toni was figuring that would be all she could say right now.

“Toooooni?” Until Toni heard her trying to say Toni’s name.

She shook her head. “No, Toni.”

“Toniiiiii?”

“Toe-Nee.”

“Nee! Neeeee!” Steve, who has been sitting nearby and watching the whole thing, can’t hold back his laughter. Claire looks at him in _horror_ , apparently not knowing what to think, and then looks at Toni like “OMG WHO IS HE?!”

“That’s Cap, sweetheart,” Toni tells her, because the only other thing she can think of is “Steve”, but the way Claire talks, it would come out as “Steeeebe” and Toni knows she would only be able to stand that for so long. Claire looks at Steve, then back at Toni.

“Pap?”

“No, honey, Cap.”

“Pap!”

“C-C-Cap.”

“Pap! Pap! Pap!” Toni considers this for a moment, then looks at Steve.

“Congrats, Man. You’re “Pap”.” Steve just grins and Claire snuggles close to Toni again.

“My Nee.” And Toni’s heart skips just a little.

The End


End file.
